ANTI-MICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF ESSENTIAL OIL EXTRACTED FROM THE WHOLE PLANT OF SENNA OCCIDENTALIS (SEPTIC WEED)

The study investigated the anti-microbial activities of the leaves of Senna occidentalis in thetreatment of some bacteria diseases. 385.50g of Senna occidentalis leaves was plucked in an open field of Zebe, Ajara Agamathan in Badagry, Lagos State and was subjected to hydro-distillation by the use of Clevenger apparatus for 4 hours. The volatile oil obtained was bottled and weighed with a percentage yield of 0.078%. The oil from the leaves were cultured(withsome antibiotics used as control) Amoxillin, Cotrimoxazole, Ciprofloxacin Tetracycline,Gentamycin, Nitrofurantoin, Nalidixicin, Ofloxacin, Agumetin, Colistin on each nutrient agar(ASA) plates at 37 0C for 24 hours and were tested against some organisms such as: (Escherichiacoli, Salmonella Sp., Bacillus Sp., Staphylococcus Sp., Klebsilia Sp). The study revealed that theessential oil extracted did not inhibit activity against all the organisms. This indicates that oilextracted from Senna occidentalis leaves cannot be used to control the microbes at the (0.2ml)concentration used. Further investigation showed that two (Ciproflaxocin and Oflaxocin) of theentire antibiotics used as control inhibited the growth of the microbes. Thus, an infection causedby Senna occidentalis can be cured by Ciproflaxocin and Oflaxocin antibiotics.